Chapter 4: Defining Value Stream Management
Value stream management (VSM) is fast becoming an essential capability in the Information Technology (IT) community, specifically as a means to assess and eliminate non-value-adding activities (waste) in your software delivery process. However, VSM is not a new concept. In this chapter, you will learn about the origins of VSM and its application to Lean-based production, supply chain, office, and IT-oriented processes.
VSM provides an approach to evaluate all organizational development and operational value streams systematically and continuously. VSM practices and tools help improve all value streams, not just those in IT. A VSM initiative aims to ensure that our value streams are most efficient, align with corporate strategies, and add customer-centric value with minimal waste, but there is no reason to learn multiple VSM strategies.
In this chapter, you will also learn the basic methods and tools of VSM. Specifically, you will learn...
